


Alive

by Icarusdg



Series: Halloween Fest 2018 [22]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Magic, Temporary Character Death, happened beore the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 05:02:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16381928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icarusdg/pseuds/Icarusdg
Summary: Yuuri's GPF win feels almost empty until someone throws a blond haired doll on the ice with all the other gifts.





	Alive

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like using the choose not to use warnings label makes me sound like a terrible person but I really don't think this warrents a MCD tag.
> 
> Please read end notes for warnings; I promise its a sweet story if a little sad in the middle but it all works out fine.

The greatest moment for Yuuri probably was when his exhibition skate ended and he stood with Victor at the center of the rink while fans showered the ice with gifts and the crowds cheered so loud even the announcer was drowned out. In that moment he was on top of the world. He had Victor and they had skating. Still, while neither would admit it, both felt something missing. There was no reason for the feeling but, it felt like there was supposed to be someone else there. Yuuri willed the feeling away so he could bask in the feeling of winning the GPF a little longer. As he and Victor skated off the ice, hand in hand, a doll on the rink caught his eye. He pulled Victor along with him to pick it up.

“Victor, look, its wearing one of your old costumes!”

“He looks so grumpy!” Victor and Yuuri laughed at the pouty doll and decided to take it with them.

It was such an unusual item; the entire doll was made of felt, even the little skates. It had blond shoulder length hair that partially blocked one eye, and angry little green eyes with a frown for his mouth. Its arms and legs stuck out kind of like a gingerbread man and the clothing was a perfect replica of one of Victor’s old costumes from his junior days. Something about it just seemed… right.

***

Later that night, when Yuuri and Victor finally made it back to their hotel room for some much needed rest. Yuuri found the doll sitting on a chair, where they left it. He never got a chance to look at it closer before so, he picked it up and sat on the bed to check it out. What he missed before was a thin ribbon looped around its neck, attached to a card, and stuffed under the costume. When he pulled out the note it read, “This is Yuri, he wants to be a skater just like you one day. Please take care of him and shower him with love even when he’s ill tempered. After all, he is still a child.” Yuuri didn’t know what to make of that note, when he turned the card over he saw additional writing. “With all the love in the world, Nikolai, Yuri’s grandfather.” He’d never seen anything like it.

“Victor?”

Victor looked up from where he was digging through the suitcase. “Hmm?” 

“ Look at this card.” When Victor walked over and sat next to him, Yuuri handed over the doll, card and all. “Have you ever seen anything like it?”

“No… maybe it was made in the memory of a lost child or something? Let’s call him Yurio.”

***

In all the chaos of the next few days, Yurio ended up forgotten on the couch in their apartment while they attended to meetings and interviews and celebrations for Yuuri’s first win.

Sometimes Makka would cuddle with him but, for the most part the doll sat there alone.

It was a week before Yuuri and Victor finally had some time to their selves. Victor was just about to collapse on the couch when Yuuri rescued Yurio from being squished beneath him. “Victor, be more careful!” It was a ridiculous concern but, Yuuri felt protective of the doll. Something about it made him feel like he needed to keep it safe. It was vulnerable and their responsibility.

“Sorry! I’m sorry Yurio! I forgot you were there!” Victor turned over from his flop face down on the couch to see Yuuri fussing over the doll. “I’m sure he’s okay Yuuri, don’t mother hen him so much.”

“I’m not mother henning him, I’m just making sure you didn’t squish him when you so carelessly flopped onto the couch.”

Victor was just about to turn back into the couch when he heard a grumbled, “old man” that _did not_ sound like his Yuuri. He looked back to see a stunned Yuuri stiffly holding the doll while staring at it with wide eyes.

“Vic—Victor, did you—it—did you hear it?”

As much as Victor would like to say he didn’t, “I did.”

Neither were sure what to make of the voice, they were certain it was from the doll but, at the same time, it couldn’t possibly be. It couldn’t be a device because the doll went through airport security twice. They heard nothing more from it the rest of the day. While neither of them wanted to sit close to it, Makka didn’t mind curling up next to the doll. It didn’t seem like a threat, it didn’t even scare them but, it was… unusual.

***

“Can’t you get a cat? Cats are better.”

Yuuri would like to pretend he didn’t hear that but, it would do him no good when the doll shifted a little under Makka’s head. He still wasn’t sure about it but, Makka should know, right? She was content to lay with her head on his lap, wiggling closer when the doll cautiously raised a hand and began petting her head.

“I guess she’s not so bad…”

While part of him felt like talking to it was a bad idea, a large part also couldn’t ignore it. Something about the doll seemed… lonely. He and Victor knew all too well what that felt like. “Did you have a cat when you were with your grandfather?”

“Da, Potya was the best cat, she loved to sit on my lap and she would go to bed with me and her purring put me to sleep and she was the best cat at catching mice! Grandpa said he knew of no cat better than her!” It was weird to see the doll’s mouth lifting into a little smile but, also very endearing. “She played with me all the time, went out to the pond with me in the winter when I wanted to ice skate…” his little smile turned down again, “… she got grandpa when I fell through. He wasn’t mad though, I was so afraid he would be mad at me, he told me not to skate, the ice was starting to thin.”

“Is that how, is that why you’re like this?”

“Grandpa made toys; he sold them in his shop. I asked him if he could make one of me in a skating costume and… he had just finished it. He used to say, his toys were magic, they were always what someone needed, just when they needed it the most. He didn’t make them unless they needed to be made. I guess that’s why he was sad when he was making it for me.”

Yuuri had no words for the boy. He didn’t even know how old the boy was, how much he really understood.

“Grandpa didn’t want to give me away, you know. He said, I needed more than he could give. I didn’t know what that meant until I came here. I couldn’t talk or move before. But that doesn’t mean I like you or that old man!”

“That’s okay Yurio, we love you plenty.” The boy’s words made him smile; they would shower him with love and make sure he never felt lonely again. And they would find his grandfather.

***

A year later, Yuuri was on that podium again and this time his exhibition was a family affair with Victor and Yurio on the ice with him. The boy was already a teen; he spent years as a doll with his grandfather and the only reason Nikolai gave him up was because his health was starting to fail. He didn’t want his grandson to see him go and be trapped all alone like that so, he took a leap of faith. What a leap of faith it was, Yuuri and Victor felt more complete then before. The day they took Yurio to see his grandfather, as a real kid too (which was pretty amazing in itself), the old man broke down in tears while hugging his grandson close.

Dreams really do come true. They added two more people (and a cat) to their little Russian family, Yurio had all the family he could want (even if he denied it), and Nikolai got his grandson back. Throw in their family back in Hasetsu and none of them would ever feel alone again.

**Author's Note:**

> Before the start of the story Yurio fell through ice on a pond and died. That is as far as it is explained and Yurio is the one telling this part of the story. THe story is a Pinochio type story only Yurio existed before he was the doll and he is a 'real boy' in the end.


End file.
